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Hermann Mazard
Hermann Mazard (born Hermann Mazard, Jr.) is an initiate of the Theta Iota chapter and a member of the Jersey City (New Jersey) Alumni chapter, where he serves a Keeper of the Exchquer. He is a life member of the Fraternity at the national and regional level. Early Life Mazard was born on June 2, 1965, in Montreal, Canada, and is the second of three children born to immigrant parents from Haiti. His father, Hermann Mazard, was a physician. His mother Marie-Yvonette Mazard (neé Marhône) was a grocery store owner and high school teacher. He was raised in Dix Hills, New York (Suffolk Country, Long Island), and graduated from Half Hollow Hills High School West. He participated in the Boy Scouts of America and was active in the St. Matthews Church junior soccer leagues. In high school, he played soccer and ran track, earning eight varsity letters. His personal bests include running a 0:48.6 in the 400 meters, 2:02.1 in the 800 meters and 3:19.4 in 4x400 meter relay, all for Half Hollow Hills West. As early as his teenage years, Mazard was fiercely independent. He sold seeds door-to-door and worked as a bicycle deliveryman for Newsday, the daily hometown newspaper. Higher Education Mazard holds a BA from Dartmouth College, where he studied computer science, majored in sociology, and minored in economics. He tried out for the junior varsity soccer team but was told by Coach Thomas Griffin that he "had no future in intercollegiate athletics." Mazard also tried out for the varsity track team, where he joined the practice squad and competed in the 1,600 meter race for two years. Off the field, Mazard was a sports photographer for the Aegis yearbook and was active with the African-American Society and Kappa Alpha Psi. He earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he double-majored in management and finance. He studied under a fellowship from the Arthur D. Little Family Foundation and excelled in accounting and finance. He joined the Bottom Line, an all-male a capella singing group, which performed on campus and at alumni events. At graduation, he was awarded a Distinguished Dean's Award for academic achievement and community leadership. Professional Career Technology Mazard learned to program in BASIC as a high school student and initially pursued the computer science cirriculum at Dartmouth. As an undergraduate, he worked part-time as a systems analyst at the Dartmouth-Kiewit Computing Center, which housed the college's mainframe and networking computers. After graduation, he joined Datrose, a privately owned information technology firm in Rochester, New York, where he worked as a software engineer. In 1990, he joined the healthcare division of insurance giant Aetna, where he served as an underwriter in its Middletown, Connecticut, office, and as an account manager in its New York office. In 1994, he achieved a number 17 ranking out of 650 sales executives. Investment Banking After completing his first year of graduate school at Northwestern, Mazard joined Goldman Sachs as a summer intern in the municipal finance group in New York. After graduation, he joined the TD Securities, the investment banking arm of Toronto Dominion, as a leveraged finance associate in its New York office. In 1999, he joined Wasserstein Perella, a boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm, as a member of the healthcare advisory group. Political Fundraising In 2001, Mazard served part-time on the fundraising committee of H. Carl McCall, a Dartmouth alumnus who won the Democratic nomination for Governor of New York. After leaving investment banking in 2002, Mazard launched Grassroots Strategies, a political fundraising and advisory firm. Some of his more notable clients included Carl Horton, who sought the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut in 2003; Dick Gephardt, a Northwestern alumnus who sought the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2004; and Leslie Crocker Snyder, who sought the Democratic nomination for District Attorney of New York County in 2005. Entrepreneurship In 2006, Mazard expanded his consulting practice to include small businesses. One of his clients, a local online grocer, sought to develop strategies for increasing market share. Based on his understanding of consumer decision-making and in-store behavior, Mazard developed the framework for an in-home technology solution that would automate the data entry function for grocery lists. That solution was never adopted, prompting Mazard to first launch HomeShop Technologies, a data-capture startup, and then HomeShopr, a grocery list startup. After depleting the proceeds of a small seed investment round, HomeShopr was shut down in 2012. Higher Education In 2007, Mazard joined the BEST Incubator, which was an innovation and entrepreneurship center operated by the Polytechnic School of Engineering at New York University. He served part-time as a lecturer and was a offered a position among the school's adjunct faculty, where he taught graduate courses in entrepreneurship. After shutting down HomeShopr, in 2013, Mazard joined the alumni relations and development division of New York University, where he focused on prospect development for the newly created Entrepreneurial Institute. He currently works in prospect development, where his focus includes 22 schools and programs at New York University. Personal Life Mazard was married to Margaret A. Byrd on June 15, 2002; the couple divorced in 2015. They have no children. Community and Civic Involvement Mazard strongly believes that the pursuit of happiness can best be achieved through entrepreneurship and has sought to encourage business ownership amongst his peers, mentees and students. In 1990, he joined the Junior Achievement chapter at Weaver High School in Hartford, Connecticut, as an advisor. For three years, his teams actively vied for Achiever of the Year honors. He also served as the entrepreneur-in-residence for Drumline Angels, a short-lived effort to help minority entrepreneurs access to early stage capital. Mazard is active with the alumni associations of this undergraduate and graduate schools. In 2011, he was elected president of the Kellogg Alumni Club in New York, the school's second largest club, and served for two years. In 2013, he was appointed to the executive committee of the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Assocation, where he served for one year. Philanthropy Mazard is a consistent donor to Dartmouth College and Northwestern University, his undergraduate and graduate alma maters, respectively. He is also a supporter of the Food Bank for New York City and the Jersey City Kappa League. Kappa Alpha Psi Involvement Mazard was inducted into the Theta Iota chapter on May 11, 1985, and became a charter member of the Mu Chi chapter at Dartmouth College on February 14, 1987. He was inducted into the Grand Chapter Life Membership and Northeastern Province Life Membership programs in 1992 and 2014, respectively. In 1990, he moved to Middletown, Connecticut, and joined the Hartford (Connecticut) Alumni chapter. On May 4, 1991, he was elected Keeper of Records, where he served for one year. After moving to New York the following year, he remained inactive until 2011, when he was reclaimed by Warren Dorsey. the Jersey City (New Jersey) Alumni chapter and was elected Keeper of the Exchequer in 2014, and again in 2015